iTunes may have a few tricks up its sleeve in the near future. The guys over at DownloadSquad have apparently gone digging through the Localizable.strings file on iTunes 7.3.2 and pulled some interesting results according to iPhone Atlas:
/* ===== iPhone Game Item Strings ===== */
‚Äú4329.001‚Ä≥ = ‚ÄúAre you sure you want to remove the selected game from your iPhone?‚Äù;
‚Äú4329.002‚Ä≥ = ‚ÄúAre you sure you want to remove the selected games from your iPhone?‚Äù;
We did a little more digging, and found some other interesting entries:
‚Äú4320.077‚Ä≥ = ‚ÄúVoice Memos‚Äù;
‚Äú4320.079‚Ä≥ = ‚ÄúThe iPhone ‚Äú^1‚Äù contains new voice memos. Would you like to move these voice memos to your iTunes library?‚Äù;
‚Äú4320.080‚Ä≥ = ‚ÄúMoving voice memos to your iTunes library‚Ä¶‚Äù;
and
‚Äú4320.295‚Ä≥ = ‚ÄúYou must connect using FireWire to update the iPhone ‚Äú^FILENAME‚Äù.‚Äù;
‚Äú4320.296‚Ä≥ = ‚ÄúYou must connect using FireWire to restore the iPhone ‚Äú^FILENAME‚Äù.‚Äù
The strings don’t point to anything specific, but could provide hints that the program will voice memo or Firewire support while the iPhone may be receiving additional game support.
Nothing definitive, but it could point the way to some cool stuff down the road.
Let us know what you think in the comments or forums.

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Apple patents being the order of the day, it looks like the company has extended a patent for a multi-touch interface on upcoming notebooks. The initial drawings in the patent display a widened trackpad that can be used by both hands.
Take a look at today’s Apple Core for the full details and if you have some thoughts of your own on this, let us know in the comments or forums.

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The iPhone and iPod can already do a fair amount, but tend to lead to an insular experience (the conventional logic being that if I’m rocking out to Air Supply on my iPod, then so is the rest of the world. The same goes for the iPhone.)
This may change soon, as Apple has recently filed a patent that with the United States Patent and Trademark Office that posits the idea of passing external/ambient noise through a device’s headphones as opposed to strictly audio from the device.
According to MacNN, the patent describes a situation in which the user could flick a switch that would shut down audio from the device and instead pick up sounds such as voices or the sounds of nearby traffic. The patent, entitled “Presentation of audible media in accommodation with external sound”, lays out a situation in which the user can flip back and forth between their music and outside sounds, the technology perhaps even enhancing outside sounds, picking up ambient noise through a microphone and amplifying it through the headphones.
The headphones would be able to simultaneously record ambient noise, allowing for both live music playback from the device as well as recording of external noises or conversations.
Not a bad idea if it works out. Still, the technology is already here in the form of knowing when to put the headphones away and listen to friends, co-workers, employers, significant others and oncoming traffic.
Your two cents, as always, are more than appreciated in the comments and forums.

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A group of iPhone users have reported that their handsets have permanently lost responsiveness to touch inputs across parts of the screen – generally about half an inch from the top and bottom of the screen.
According to AppleInsider, the problem remains even after the iPhone has been reset, updated with the 1.0.1 firmware software and cleaned. Most reported instances of this case have required replacements from Apple, whose technical support representatives have become “very familiar” with the touch screen failures and appearing to be bypassing the usual protocols for sending out replacements.
In several cases, customers who took their iPhones into Apple Store locations received brief inspections and three-day repair cycles from Apple. Per the stated US$29 iPhone rental, one customer mentioned that he’d successfully negotiated a waiver of the fee during the repair cycle.
Although Apple hasn’t officially commented about it, the unresponsive touch screens represent the second major hardware anomaly affecting the iPhone, the first being a wide variety of failed AC adapters that shipped with the iPhones.
If you’ve seen the touch screen problem on your end or have an idea or workaround, let us know in the comments or forums.

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Late Thursday, Apple released the MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1 patch. The update, a 14.7 megabyte download and can also be located through Mac OS X’s Software Update feature.
The update provides bug fixes and stability improvements with Apple’s Motion 2 and Motion 3 software suites and is recommended for the 2.2 and 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro units. Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later is required to install and run the update.
Please let us know if you’ve installed the update and had either a positive or negative experience with it. If you have any stories or feedback, let us know in the comments or forums.